Radio host speaks to hostage in Sydney cafe

Sydney: A Sydney-based radio presenter Monday said he spoke to one of the hostages being held inside a cafe here and he could hear the gunman talking in the background.

“The male hostage was remarkably calm when relaying information over the phone from the gunman,” said Ray Hadley, a radio presenter of 2GB, a commercial radio station here.

An armed gunman Monday took over three dozen people hostage at Chocolate Lindt cafe in this Australian city. Hadley said he could hear the gunman talking in the background during the phone conversation, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The gunman wanted the hostage to speak live on radio, a demand Hadley claimed to have refused. “I told the hostage it would not be in his best interest or my best interest to allow that to happen because I’m not a trained negotiator, I don’t have any expertise in this, there are people who will talk to both the hostages and the person holding the hostages and they will be knowing what to do,” said Hadley.

Hadley said he has spoken to New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione about the phone call and Scipione asked him not to allow the hostage to speak on air. Hadley claimed the gunman was talking about “other operatives being involved”, and said he was instructed to call back.

“They talked about a password they would give me…I have no idea what that means, what it’s about,” Hadley said. “I could hear the person in the background giving instructions to the young man I was talking to.”